As a farewell to you, my dear friends, I want to share some final thoughts about the journey I have had in Guatemala. Instead of writing about all the new things I learned about Guatemalan history or culture, I am going to reflect on some personal challenges I have faced here. From these challenges I have learned some important life lessons. Going out into a new country is not easy! I went out into remote villages, talked to people from different backgrounds and observed cultures that are very new to me. As a historian, traveling around a country and doing interviews, I confronted a lot of road blocks. I had a hard time deciding how I was going to travel to villages, how I was going to organize my time and how I was going to make connections with new people.
First, I would like to introduce you to a dear friend I met in Guatemala. His name is "Rodrigo" and he is the 1994 Toyota 4runner truck that I bought early on in my journey. Guatemalan villages are quite far apart, and it is necessary to travel on steep mountain roads to be able to talk to the indigenous Mayan people. For this reason, I took on the challenge of driving a car in Guatemala. Rodrigo, my car, helped me climb up many hills with his strong engine, but he also brought a lot of problems!
